The Road That Stretches Out Ahead
by lunar47
Summary: While the bus is grounded in Nevada, Skye heads out on a road trip to visit famous American landmarks by herself. On her third day Coulson surprises her however by taking her to see if aliens really do exist in Area 51.


The idea of a road trip was somewhat of a foreign concept to Skye; which was interesting considering she spent a good chunk of the last few years residing in her van. Mobile was kind of an inherent concept. But she was a homebody. When she was in her van she stayed in the van, when she had the luck (read: cash) to stay in a motel she stayed in the motel and when she was in the bus she stayed in the bus (usually connected to her laptop). She was a creature of habit. Didn't mean she didn't like to go out on missions because c'mon who wouldn't like to explore Incan Ruins.

So why was she currently in a commandeered (not stolen) S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicle headed east out of Nevada on the I15N? She didn't really know. Maybe this trip would help. It wouldn't be long, this road trip, she had to be back before dark. But maybe it would put a dent in her feelings of claustrophobia on the bus. The plane was currently grounded at a secret base somewhere in the Tonopah Test Range for refueling and maintenance. The delay was expected to last a few days. Skye wasn't needed.

It had been getting to be too much on the bus as of late, for her at least. Things were settling down in the S.H.I.E.L.D. world; Garrett was dead, Hydra was taken care of, Cybertek was still around but lying low and S.H.I.E.L.D. was rebuilding. And Ward was …well she didn't want to think too much about him.

Then there was what Raina told Ward; that the stories coming out of the Hunan Province had her parents as monsters, maybe not even human. She's not sure why Ward was honest with her and told her that. And she's not sure why she hasn't told Coulson yet. She's scared. Yes, she's scared. She doesn't want people to look at her differently, doesn't want Coulson to see her any differently. _What if she's a monster too?_ The thought is quiet and nebulous, pervading the deepest recesses of her mind.

Skye checks her rear view mirror then glances out her driver's side window. The view has pretty much been the same for the last few hours of her drive. The sepia toned landscape is scenic in a sterile kind of way: lots of rocks, lots of brush, clear skies but hazy in a way that makes her think of a thin veil smothering the Earth. _Wow, she's in a morbid mood_.

She had left while it was still dark out, the team she assumed still asleep; all except for May who was cataloguing inventory. She had given Skye an unreadable look and an arch of her eyebrow. It had immediately made Skye feel pressured to explain.

"I'm going out. I'll be back later tonight."

May stood silent, tablet in hand.

"Is that okay?"

"Did you tell Coulson?"

"Kind of," She may have mentioned it in an offhand remark when he was distracted. She never really got a yes or no answer from him. "You didn't need me for anything, right?"

"No-"

"Well I'll see you later." With that she turned and practically ran down the ramp of the bus before May could respond. _Coward_.

The one thing the desert had going for it was that the sunrise was spectacular. Inky black gave way to violet tones before a splash of orange lit the edges of the rolling hills. It put the view from the cockpit in a run for its money.

Her GPS announces that she's entering Arizona just as she sees the sign with its little golden sun on the side of the road. About Six hours left till she hits her destination for the day. It was kind of random, really, how she chose the Four Corners Monument as her endpoint. She needed something feasible, time wise, something not too touristy (Las Vegas was not an option), and some place where maybe she could think. She chose a direction, east, closed her eyes and stuck her finger down on a map. Google told her that something did indeed exist at the junction between Arizona and New Mexico and here she was, on her way.

Late morning traffic, an accident she finds out, and her insistent stomach force a pit stop about an hour and half into the state. There's nothing in Colorado City but after consulting her phone she finds a small café across the border in Utah. It's a little out of her way but hey what's a road trip without a few detours.

She's not quite prepared for the sight that greets her in Hildale; women in long dresses and tall fences blocking out the view of houses. Parked outside the Merry Wives café she consults her phone again. So Colorado City and Hildale boast a large Mormon polygamist community. _Huh, interesting_. There's her fun fact for the day.

She's never given much thought to religion. As a child she was forced into one too many Sunday services by the nuns at St. Agnes to consider Catholicism. She kind of lumped all of Christianity together after that. She had a brief experience with Wicca when she was thirteen. All it had amounted to was wearing pouches filled with amethyst crystals and burning incense in her room when her foster parents weren't home. Looking back on it now she thinks that she may have been seriously misguided when it came to modern Pagan tenants. _Ah, the things one does to fit in at school_.

She orders a sandwich when she gets inside and sits at a table near the window. Her fingers are itching for something to do. Usually they would be clacking across the keyboard of her laptop while she waits for her food but this time she doesn't bring the precious piece of hardware with her. _No distractions_, was her original thought. But with no one to talk to and nothing but her thoughts to keep her occupied, she's bored.

Skye whips her phone out of her pocket, looks up a familiar number and starts a text message thread.

_How are things on the bus?_

She drums her fingers on the table as she waits for a reply. Simmons' text comes with a small chime.

_Thngs grt. LF on fr tho. MM upst_

Skye doesn't really know what to make of Jemma's shorthand.

_Um, didn't exactly get that. What is happening?_

She doesn't receive a reply for a long time so she assumes Simmons has gone back to whatever emergency "LF on fr" means (_Fitz on fire? maybe_). Her sandwich comes and she's tempted to ask the waitress if she's a polygamist herself. But that would probably be rude so she keeps her big fat mouth shut and eats. It's surprisingly delicious for small town fare.

Before leaving Hildale she gases up her car and stocks up on road trip goodies: chips, candy bars, sunflower seeds, soda and water. Because that's what you do on a good road trip right, eat junk food. She's seen the movies.

She makes good time to the Four Corners Monument once she heads out of Utah, arriving just after 2:30 in the afternoon. She pays the entrance fee and parks her car in the lot. There's a fair amount of people milling about in cars and RVs. But then again, being summer, it is tourist season. The heat is oppressive. It's dry but it weighs Skye down. She starts sweating immediately. It had to be in the high 90's.

She makes the short trek to the monument. She knows what to expect from the research she did the day before but she is still intrigued by the disc shaped marker indicating the intersection of Arizona, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico. Around the marker it is engraved "Here meet in freedom under God four states." She remembers that the monument is maintained by the Navajo Nation as a tourist attraction.

She pulls out her phone to take a picture. She's distracted enough that she doesn't notice a man sidling up to her.

"Can I take your picture to prove to all my friends that angels do exist?"

"What?" She turns to face him and she has to admit that even with the cheesy pickup line she's a little awestruck. He's young, early twenties, and looks like some kind of walking advert for Abercrombie & Fitch. He's a blond, prime, all-American stud with high cheekbones, strong jawline and a winning smile.

"That was dumb, I know. It was just an excuse to come talk to you. Name's Trevor." He points behind him to a group of guys, "Those are my buddies. We're here on vacation. On our way to Vegas, baby" He raises his voice for the last statement and the guys behind him give a cheer.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" Skye goes from awestruck to fairly annoyed pretty quickly.

She breaks out an alias, "Mary."

"That's cool. Hey you go to school?"

"Only the school of life." She replies. She wants out of this conversation.

He laughs like that's the funniest thing he's heard. "Yeah we go to the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. Roll Tide Roll!" His crew honest to god woohoos.

"Hey, you take a picture with the monument yet."

"Uh, no. Wasn't really planning on it."

"Ah, man. You have to. Here I'll take it for you." He snatches the phone out of her hand. "You have to straddle the four states. You know, crab like. Here, Dave will show you." _Dave_ comes and shows her the ridiculous pose.

Skye sighs and follows suit getting in the crab position. Trevor takes the photo and she goes over to check it out. She looks like a dork but she figures that Trip might get a kick out of it.

"Thanks." She figures that her association with these boys is over but Trevor has more to say.

"Let's all take a selfie, just to commemorate this fine occasion." She doesn't think Coulson would approve of a photo of her ending up on Instagram but she takes the shot anyways. When she looks back on her actions she doesn't exactly like herself. _Weak_, she thinks. She didn't stand up for herself.

The Frat boys finally move off and she wanders over to the gift shop. There was a time in her life that she might have gone after a guy like Trevor. But she feels like she has gone through so much that her tastes have changed. She's matured by being with the team, matured after being shot and almost dying, matured after finding out about the circumstances of her birth. Her relationship with Ward was a good example of having her trust betrayed. She liked him, could have loved him eventually. She thought he was a good man and an even better S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. But he chose to place his allegiance with an evil organization bent on establishing a "new world order." It was enough to make her sick.

_But Coulson is not like that. You can trust Coulson implicitly_. That thought gave her pause. Why was she thinking of Coulson in relation to her affair with Ward. Coulson was her mentor, her boss, dare she say it her friend. Anything more was kind of a taboo subject. Her stomach gives a weird flip and she refuses to think any more on the topic.

The gift shop is blessedly air conditioned and she takes a moment to enjoy the cool breeze by the vent. Typical knick knacks like key chains, snow globes, postcards and magnets line the shelves. Skye bypasses them and goes for the more specialized items unique to the Navajo Nation region. She looks at a bracelet with inlaid turquoise stones and nearly balks at the price. S.H.I.E.L.D. pays her but not that well. She lands up going with a small statuette of a Native American to compliment her Hula girl. On the way to pay she sees a stand with small jars of amber cream. Natural Pinon Cream it reads; used to treat dry skin, sores, skin infections, and other skin conditions. _Hmm, Simmons might be interested in this_. She grabs a jar and pays.

Skye is on the road again, back to the base, by a quarter after three. She binges on junk food for dinner and doesn't stop except for gas. She makes it back to the plane by midnight. Luckily the ramp is down so she's able to slip onto the bus without too much fuss. She spies Fitz and Simmons in the lab scrubbing down the benches. Opening the door she walks in to what appears to be a spirited argument.

"Of course I label all my chemicals. I'm not an idiot. I don't know where those came from. I'm sorry."

"So these were just mystery chemicals, Simmons, that appeared out of thin air?"

"I don't know." Jemma scrubs harder at the scorch marks on the tabletop.

"Hey guys," Skye interrupts. "What's going on?"

"There may have been a minor mishap with some unmarked flammable liquids and an open flame. Honest mistake really." Simmons looks contrite, her eyes cast down and her lips pursed in a frown.

"I see." Skye replies slowly. "This is what that weird text was about. Wait, was Fitz actually on fire?"

"It was nothing really." Fitz brings his hand to rest on Jemma's arm, "Minor burns. More damage to the lab than anything else."

"It's just…you just got out of the hospital. And now this happens. I'm bad luck to be around."

"Oh come off it, Jemma." It seems as if this was not the first time Fitz had to accept her apology today.

"Hey, want to see something that will make everyone feel better?" Skye asks diplomatically while taking out her phone. She brings up the picture of her straddling the four states and shows it to Fitz and Simmons.

"Oh that's darling. You look so cute." Simmons seems charmed. Fitz smiles and chuckles.

"So you're having a good time?" He asks.

"It's been alright," She shrugs.

"Are you going out again tomorrow?"

"Probably. I'm thinking about the Grand Canyon. Never been. Should be interesting. What are you guys doing?"

"Inventory, yay!" Simmons sarcastic reply is accompanied by a small shaking of her fists.

"Are you sure I'm not needed?" She suddenly feels a little bad about her impromptu excursions.

"No, go. Have fun. Someone needs to around here."

"Thanks," Skye turns around to head for her bunk until she remembers the pinon cream. "Oh, hey Simmons, I got this for you."

"Ooh," Jemma coos as Skye hands her the jar. "Look at all the uses for this. I wonder if their claims are accurate. Looks like I just found my next experiment. Thank you Skye"

"I don't get a gift?" Fitz pouts.

"I'll get you something tomorrow Fitz. I promise. The Grand Canyon is probably way cooler anyways." Yeah it was kind of unfair of her to get something for Simmons and not for Fitz. "Goodnight, guys"

"Night." The two of them go back to cleaning up the lab.

Skye makes her way up the stairs and through the bus. The lights are dim and the atmosphere is quiet. She sees Coulson lounging in one of the booths. He has a tablet in hand and a drink on the table, probably bourbon. A part of her wants to go to him, tell him about her day, and confess everything that has been on her mind lately. Another part of her wants to avoid him completely. She looks at him with a certain kind of longing. She needs to talk but she doesn't know how to start this conversation. Avoidance wins out and she makes it to her bunk unseen.


End file.
